What four California ballot initiatives reveal about race relations in the U.S.

In 2020, America’s three biggest problems — according to Americans — were the coronavirus pandemic, poor political leadership and race relations. Voters expressed their preferences on the first two by throwing President Trump out of the White House. The election provided little insight on racial issues, however: There is no […] Read more »

Seeking Solutions for Racial Inequities

… A majority of Americans agree with the underlying conclusion that racial inequities in U.S. society need to be addressed. Gallup has just reported that for the first time in over a quarter century of asking the question, a majority of Americans say that new civil rights laws are needed […] Read more »

Affirmative Action and Public Opinion

… A great deal of detailed statistical analysis in recent months has highlighted the social and economic inequities facing Black Americans. And polling shows that Americans clearly favor the idea of remedying this situation and reducing inequalities of outcomes. But when it comes to policies that explicitly take race into […] Read more »

California forges a path through America’s racial divide

At a moment of profound national tension over race, California may be lighting a pathway toward greater racial reconciliation as America grows irreversibly more diverse in the years ahead. The California state legislature is moving toward approving legislation this month that would place on the November ballot a referendum to […] Read more »

Americans Are Divided by Their Views on Race, Not Race Itself

Amid the uproar over the Ralph Northam blackface photograph, a Washington Post poll asked Virginians if he should remain governor. The results were striking: Only 48 percent of whites felt that he should stay in office. That percentage was exceeded by the nearly 60 percent of black Virginians who thought […] Read more »